The Mystery of the
two Amstrad CPC versions of Double Dragon

By "Psycho" Steve
HalfpennyAssociate Editor

Updated June 2003.

I meant to do this update ages ago but
never got round to it (weíre talking like, last October here!).
Here it is now
becauseÖ Well, letís just say that the good news as of late has rekindled my
love for Double Dragon. Anyway, I received an awesome
email late last year from
none other than the Amstrad CPC programmer himself, Richard
Aplin. I mailed him back asking about the possibilities of an interview
but sadly, he never mailed me back.
Nevertheless, I thanked him for the kind
comments he made about the Dojo and in particular, my review of the classic
arcade he brought to life on the ancient 8-bit.
Here are some of the highlights
from the e-mail he did send me.

Regarding the original Double Dragon on
the Atari ST and AmigaÖ

ďWell,
actually, I patched it together in a rush for Christmas after the original
programmers screwed it up royally - yes the Amiga version was a straight port of
the ST version, and yes, most definitely, they both sucked.

I
also (later) wrote DD1 on the Amstrad, which I'm glad to see you liked a bit
more. I was quite pleased with itÖĒ

Yes, you could say
that. As were the few CPC owners that got to play it. Now onto Double Dragon
2Ö

ďI
did the Amiga version, which was a bit rushed, but was a _lot_ nicer than DD1 -
if I remember I did proper hardware stuff; overscan, decent blitter support
etc.. - then ported it back to the Atari ST.

I
really can't even remember if I did DD2 for the Amstrad or not.. such a long
time ago.. actually I think I did, but heyÖĒ

Yes, I believe you
did, but youíre forgiven for forgetting.

Mr. Aplin, we salute you! A darn shame
that not all Amstrad users got to experience the goodness that is your version
of the original.

Updated September
2002.

Folks, it seems we have the answer!
A
former Amstrad CPC owner recently emailed me and had quite the explanation for
the mystery of the two Amstrad DDísÖ

After reading a rave review for DD in a
French CPC magazine simply titled ďAmstrad CPCĒ and not having the patience
to wait for the game to hit the shelves, our anonymous Lee brother fan decided
to import the gameÖ and ended up with an awful port that only vaguely
resembled the monster arcade hit.
This poor version was from the UK, yet over the
pond in France, Amstrad owners embraced a darn good version of DD.

Just to explain what the heck happened,
it seems that the good version was distributed by Virgin Mastertronic (a part of
Virgin) whilst the poor version was distributed by Melbourne House (another part
of Virgin).
Both were worked on by different teams from Binary Design.
Furthermore, the good version only appears to work on a specific type of
Amstrad, namely the CPC 6128.
The poor version was made for the cassette tape
based CPC 464, but if converted to disk it works on any Amstrad.
It seems that
in the UK (and perhaps other places in Europe) they just distributed the hideous
Melbourne House game and thatís a real shame (not so surprising though since
we were more into the cheaper more user-friendly cassette tapes than five inch
floppy disks).
Anyway, Iím told that the good game was indeed designed on an
Atari ST as was the Amstrad version of DD
II, hence the similarity in graphics
design and the weird range of color (which, to agree with our ex-CPC owner,
should really have been changed after the transfer. The ST was capable of using
thousands of colors whilst, letís just say that the CPC was not).

The former CPC owner expresses his
disappointment after loading up the crummy UK port;

ďI
was 10 years old and a real fan of the DD arcade when I discover that my Double
Dragon CPC version sucks a lot and the one in the magazine obtained 90%, I want
the light of this story (my parents had called everywhere but everywhere said
that I had the ONLY version, everywhere lied!)Ē

Ah, one of the worst things about being
a kid is when you know whatís going on and nobody believes you.
Anyway thanks, Mr. Anonymous for all your help! Iím
sure things worked out the day you got a PC and were introduced to the world of emulation. For now, this
case is closed (unless somebody emails me and tells me something completely
different).

The Amstrad CPC

The Amstrad CPC computer series was the third most popular
set of 8-bit machines in Europe just
behind and released after the C64 and the Spectrum. Sadly, the machine never
made it to the United States. But not to worry, the CPC cost far too much for
what it was anyway and really couldnít do anything the C64 couldnít do better,
right? Perhaps on paper. In reality there were a few titles, mostly
arcade hits, that were not only better on the Amstrad but in some cases, far
superior to their C64 and Spectrum counterparts. Double Dragon was one of these
exceptions. Well, one of the versions of it was anywayÖ

Double Dragon
for the Amstrad

The original CPC
version of Double Dragon was almost certainly released in winter 1988, around
the same time as all the other computer versions. Handling all the home computer
versions was Binary Design, a well respected software company. Sadly, none of
these versions came close in recreating the classic that was the arcade game. It
may look pretty but here is what the disappointing Amstrad CPC version looked
like:

It was programmed
by the same man who handled the Spectrum version, one David Leitch. According to
an old magazine I own, the arcade hit was firstly converted to the Atari ST 16-bit home computer and then to the Amstrad CPC and then to the Spectrum. If you
compare both of the shots below, from the Spectrum and Amstrad versions
respectively, you can see the similarities. The option screen is almost
identical, as is the new (bad) design on everybodyís favorite enemy: Abobo.

(Amstrad)(Spectrum)

(Amstrad)(Spectrum)

(Amstrad)(Spectrum)

What am I pointing
out here? Well, if youíre wondering what the game was like, take the Spectrum
version, add more color and take away what little challenge it offered by adding
more lives. Whilst your there, make the sound
effects even worse and slow the game down to a point where a snail on dope would
get frustrated - if you can in fact do that. Itís
hard to explain how truly awful this is, yet itís still better than the garbage
C64 owners ended up with.

The OTHER
Double Dragon for the Amstrad

But wait! Whatís
this? The above shot is from another Amstrad CPC version of Double Dragon,
and itís brilliant! In fact,
Iíd say itís one of the best arcade conversions Iíve ever played on any home
computer. This is the version I reviewed here on
the Dojo because it is so much better than the first
version. The only thing that the first version
seems to have over this second one is the final missionís obstacles, a better
option screen and Billy Lee not looking the same as his brother. But
as if these things matter when the second version blows the first one away in
every other aspect.

(Amstrad POOR
version)(Amstrad GOOD version)

Where did this
second version come from? Well, letís take a look at the Atari ST/Amiga
version. These graphics seem to have more in common with the good Amstrad
version than the bad one. Letís use Abobo again
to show this (who incidentally, is far closer to his original arcade counterpart than in the other
version). Also, check out the high score tables.

(Amstrad GOOD
version)(Atari ST / Amiga)

(Amstrad GOOD
version)(Atari ST / Amiga)

Explanation?

Okay, so maybe
this means that two different companies were involved. Perhaps the guys who did
the Atari ST/Amiga versions did the good Amstrad version and the people who
did the Spectrum version did the poor Amstrad version. That would certainly make
some sense. Itís very uncommon but there are a few cases where the same game
has been created twice for the same machine by two different companies. But
then the Amiga ST and Spectrum versions are credited to Binary Design and/or Mastertronic. And
to mess with my head some more, so areboth Amstrad versions. Just
look at this:

(Amstrad POOR
version)(Amstrad GOOD version)

Sure, the team is
different but itís still the same company. I mean, what theÖ

Upon careful
examination on the available evidence, this is what it looks like: Binary
Design ported the game from the arcade to the ST (and Amiga), then to the
Amstrad, then to the Spectrum and then someone in
his infinite wisdom ported
it back from the Spectrum to the Amstrad. As ridiculous as that sounds, it
certainly looks that way. But why would anyone
do such an idiotic thing?

Conclusion?

Confused? Yeah, me
too. There is still a lot of evidence needed. Judging from what Iíve seen
online and after talking to former Amstrad owners, I believe that the majority
of them played the first Amstrad version of the game, which is a real shame
because this other version is far superior. What was the availability of this
second version anyway? Did Virgin Mastertronic/Melborne House make Binary
Design redo the whole game because the first version was such a mess? That
seems a highly unlikely if you ask me.

If anybody out
there knows anything more, please email myself or get in contact with the
Double Dragon Dojo and letís solve this mystery once and for all. In closing
Iíd just like to thank a Mr. E J Murphy for opening this strange and unsolved
case. Up until recently, I was completely
unaware.